Robert Fisk on Middle East

The first article is from Robert Fisk, one of the most experienced Middle East reporters in the West. His piece on the secret talks between Hamas and Fatah, and the role of Turkey, Syria and Egypt, is worth reading.

In an article by Al Arabiya, a very interesting conspiracy theory is put forward.

Petroleum is being exported and imported by both Iran and Israel, through the Ofer Brothers (Israeli wealthy Bussiness man). Nevertheless the Iranian, US and Israeli politicians demonize one anohter, while bussiness thrives!

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/06/06/152156.html

 De Arabische Lente

Gisterenmiddag is het lichaam gevonden van Saleem Shahzad, een prominente Pakistaanse journalist die de linken tussen het pakistaans leger en Al-Qaida blootlegde in een recent artikel op Asia Times Online.

Vele van zijn collega's geloven dat het machtige Inter-Service Intelligence ervoor gezorgd heeft. Het lichaam werd teruggevonden met blauwe plekken in het aangezicht en traumasporen in de onderbuik. Saleem was 40 en vader van drie. Ook Human Right Watch ziet de hand van de Pakistaanse geheime dienst in het verhaal.

Yambio, Southern Sudan – Western Equatoria State has some impressive assets that create some very interesting dynamics in the political atmosphere.

Tambura, South Sudan – After a day of driving on the red sandy roads from Yambio to Tambura in Western Equatoria State, we start off with a visit to the local commission for Relief and Rehabilitation. Unfortunately it’s lunch time, that is 2pm, so we had to wait until the commissioner will receive us. By us I mean a delegation of a Relief Organization assisting victims of the Lord’s Resistance Army. This rebel movement is known to be a vicious and brutal militia originating from Northern Uganda.

Is this what we paid for?

The point of view in which the rural population has the advantage in all kinds of issues (housing, livelihoods, natural resources, etc) does raise some questions. There is no point in denying the massive amount of people moving towards urban areas. This has been discussed in many academic, intergovernmental and international reports (Kelly; UNHCR/DPC; Jacobsen; Deikun en Masaud; ALNAP - Provention Consortium; Hamza en Zetter; Crawford e.a.; UNPD; Johnson).

Al jaar en dag vluchten mensen van geweld, of het nu van moeder natuur of van de mens zelf komt. Waar deze mensen naartoe gaan en toevlucht zoeken varieert sterk. Doorgaans krijgen we via de media beelden te zien van overvolle vluchtelingenkampen, waar hulporganisaties alles in het werk stellen om de bevolking bij te staan.